The Arabs have a saying: ?Wait one hundred years and we will see.? Who are they referring to? Us, of course. What is their ultimate weapon? It is their women.
Jewish women: Wake up! Arab women are wide awake, doing their job. That job is having children. They are not planning which colour to paint their nails next Friday afternoon, nor whether to go to London or Turkey for a few days on their holidays. They, as one people, know what their people need: They need a population, a large population, and they are hard at work, doing it.
On Western terms, a country with a large percentage of children is a weak country, a country not able to support itself, a country ?teeming? with children, where illiterate women ?breed? like rabbits. Well, reality is totally different. Western societies cannot support their elderly respectably in many cases, due to the lack of young people available to work, pay taxes and look after their own folk. A country with a large population of children is a strong country. In Israel, the current Arab birth-rate could see the Israeli democracy being overtaken simply by popular vote.
The time has come for Jewish women to wake up, bear more children per family and take responsibility for the health of the whole nation. I refer in particular to the women who do not consider themselves religious. A minimum of five children per family would give Israel the strength over the next fifty years to have a Jewish majority.
To do that the whole of the Jewish people have to take up this task as a first priority. Possibly, the time has come for Diaspora communities to step in to fill the void, helping to provide housing and other grants, so as to lighten the expenses of bringing up families blessed with many children. During the last century, land was purchased and many trees were planted by the Jewish National Fund in Israel. I can see an era when the same fund could give incentives to Jewish women in Israel to build up their families - there are already plenty of trees. Without such help, educated women will rarely have more than two or three children each.
Incentives such as free schooling, uniforms, school-books, family cash supplements, tax-free cars and paid annual family holidays could be Diaspora Jewry?s contribution, helping to elevate the status of women and their children. With many elderly Jews passing on, their legacies could greatly benefit Israel forever in this way. This could free the Israeli government from its obligations to families, particularly when this money is used to support Arab families who are opposed to the Jewish state. Jewish money from outside Israel for Jewish families is a valid weapon in our war against terrorism.
An examination of the reasons behind the low birth-rate points to two directions: The first being late marriages, and the second is the fact that educated women world-wide are having less children. The debate over women?s conscription into the army delaying marriages may be a factor, but essentially, as a mother, I believe that the reason that most women delay childbearing is mainly financial. The desire by educated women to have a secure financial base and a home of one?s own, without having to juggle children and work just to pay for the basics, is important to the mothers mental and physical health, and that of her whole family. This is particularly the case if a country has an aim of bolstering its population without damaging the family unit.
Bringing up a large family without outside financial assistance is not something that many young women would choose to do these days. When the State of Israel was in its infancy, women brought up ten and twelve children in one or two rooms. Children grew up in the streets, their mothers were poorly dressed and times were very hard. Educated young women will not choose this life. Yet, they can be offered options which will enable them to bear children whilst maintaining a decent standard of life.
During the last few months, Jews of the Diaspora rang their families in Israel. While empathizing and sympathizing with Israelis, they reminded them how they were doing everything to help. In most cases, however, this consisted of watching CNN and discussing politics at work with their colleagues. Their Israeli families were speechless.
I propose formalizing a project to help Israel by helping every family who wants to increase the size of Israel?s population. It is a project that will bear fruit now and forever.
That is the least that the Jews of the Diaspora can do for Israel.
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Leonie Ben-Simon, of Melbourne, Australia, is a company director and mother of six children.
Jewish women: Wake up! Arab women are wide awake, doing their job. That job is having children. They are not planning which colour to paint their nails next Friday afternoon, nor whether to go to London or Turkey for a few days on their holidays. They, as one people, know what their people need: They need a population, a large population, and they are hard at work, doing it.
On Western terms, a country with a large percentage of children is a weak country, a country not able to support itself, a country ?teeming? with children, where illiterate women ?breed? like rabbits. Well, reality is totally different. Western societies cannot support their elderly respectably in many cases, due to the lack of young people available to work, pay taxes and look after their own folk. A country with a large population of children is a strong country. In Israel, the current Arab birth-rate could see the Israeli democracy being overtaken simply by popular vote.
The time has come for Jewish women to wake up, bear more children per family and take responsibility for the health of the whole nation. I refer in particular to the women who do not consider themselves religious. A minimum of five children per family would give Israel the strength over the next fifty years to have a Jewish majority.
To do that the whole of the Jewish people have to take up this task as a first priority. Possibly, the time has come for Diaspora communities to step in to fill the void, helping to provide housing and other grants, so as to lighten the expenses of bringing up families blessed with many children. During the last century, land was purchased and many trees were planted by the Jewish National Fund in Israel. I can see an era when the same fund could give incentives to Jewish women in Israel to build up their families - there are already plenty of trees. Without such help, educated women will rarely have more than two or three children each.
Incentives such as free schooling, uniforms, school-books, family cash supplements, tax-free cars and paid annual family holidays could be Diaspora Jewry?s contribution, helping to elevate the status of women and their children. With many elderly Jews passing on, their legacies could greatly benefit Israel forever in this way. This could free the Israeli government from its obligations to families, particularly when this money is used to support Arab families who are opposed to the Jewish state. Jewish money from outside Israel for Jewish families is a valid weapon in our war against terrorism.
An examination of the reasons behind the low birth-rate points to two directions: The first being late marriages, and the second is the fact that educated women world-wide are having less children. The debate over women?s conscription into the army delaying marriages may be a factor, but essentially, as a mother, I believe that the reason that most women delay childbearing is mainly financial. The desire by educated women to have a secure financial base and a home of one?s own, without having to juggle children and work just to pay for the basics, is important to the mothers mental and physical health, and that of her whole family. This is particularly the case if a country has an aim of bolstering its population without damaging the family unit.
Bringing up a large family without outside financial assistance is not something that many young women would choose to do these days. When the State of Israel was in its infancy, women brought up ten and twelve children in one or two rooms. Children grew up in the streets, their mothers were poorly dressed and times were very hard. Educated young women will not choose this life. Yet, they can be offered options which will enable them to bear children whilst maintaining a decent standard of life.
During the last few months, Jews of the Diaspora rang their families in Israel. While empathizing and sympathizing with Israelis, they reminded them how they were doing everything to help. In most cases, however, this consisted of watching CNN and discussing politics at work with their colleagues. Their Israeli families were speechless.
I propose formalizing a project to help Israel by helping every family who wants to increase the size of Israel?s population. It is a project that will bear fruit now and forever.
That is the least that the Jews of the Diaspora can do for Israel.
----------------------------------
Leonie Ben-Simon, of Melbourne, Australia, is a company director and mother of six children.